Thursday, 25 October 2012

In order for a reader to like a
character that reader has to feel like they know the kind of person the
character is.

This is easiest to achieve using
archetypes, stereotypes and clichés. The cynical but brilliant detective, the
unfairly betrayed wife, the shy but sweet nerd... You feel like you know these
characters because you really have known them, in one guise or another, all your life.

And while the received wisdom is
too avoid the overly familiar, I don’t think it can be denied that lots of
successful books use character-types we’ve all seen many, many, many times before (maybe
with an added twist, but not always); and these variations on Cinderella or
Philip Marlowe or whatever can be very successful.

But often the reason writers fall
back on the tried and tested is because they don’t really know how to get the
reader to know the character quickly without resorting to the shorthand of
referencing traits already out there.

Monday, 22 October 2012

The idea that the more words used
the clearer the meaning becomes is one that trips up a lot of writers.

Not that additional details are
always a bad thing, but the ‘a little more information couldn’t hurt’ approach
is very definitely wrong. It can very much hurt.

If I want to visit you then there
is a minimum amount of info (street and house number), and an optimum amount (best
route, which exit to take) that I need. And then there’s an excessive amount (the name of
your neighbour’s dog).

On the other hand, what
difference does it make if you mention the neighbour’s dog? It’s not going to
make the address harder to find.

Thursday, 18 October 2012

Working out if you’re meant to be
a writer is both the easiest and the hardest thing to do.

Talent doesn’t come into it. The
truth is, if you are a moderately intelligent, imaginative person, chances are
you have the ability (at your best) to write something someone somewhere will
want to read.

Of course, connecting with those ideal
readers isn’t quite so easy, but that’s another post entirely.

No, the way you can determine
whether you are a novel writer is quite straightforward. You have to write a
book.See, it’s easy. And also very hard.

Monday, 15 October 2012

Written fiction allows access to
a character’s mind in a way that no other medium can. What someone thinks often
gives a new perspective on events, can reveal aspects you hadn’t considered, or
add depth to the way you perceive a character.

Often this is presented as a
snapshot of the character’s current state of mind. This is what’s happening,
and this is what the MC thinks about it. But what makes a character interesting
isn’t just who they are or what they do, it’s how they get there.

And while ‘it’s the journey not
the destination’ may seem obvious, knowing exactly which part of the journey is
the interesting bit may not.

Monday, 8 October 2012

Making the reader want to know
what happens next in a story is an excellent way to get them to turn the page
and keep reading. But that’s not what hooks readers.

Curiosity will only provide part
of the glue that makes readers stick with a story. The truth is even if the
reader knows what happens next, if they’ve read it before, seen it before,
heard spoilers, know the original version... they can still enjoy it.

But if you already know what
happens in a story, why is it still worth reading?

Thursday, 4 October 2012

This is another of my posts on
how a successful author hooks the
reader at the start of the story, what information she feels is necessary at
this point and how she approaches things like POV, character and voice (other first chapter I’ve analysed can be found here: Chapter One Analyses).

I chose The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
partly because it’s in the news, but also because it was a good opportunity to
see how an author goes about winning over readers who might be sceptical or
wary of her attempt at a new genre.